Ophthalmic disturbances in children with sensorineural hearing loss

Abstract

Co-incidence of sensorineural hearing loss and ophthalmic abnormalities has a tremendous influence on development of children. This study was done to determine the nature and prevalence of ophthalmic disturbances in children with congenital sensorineural hearing loss. In a descriptive cross-sectional study, complete ophthalmologic examinations such as assessment of visual acuity, cycloplegic refraction, ocular motility examination, slit lamp examination and indirect funduscopy on 50 children with sensorineural hearing loss (determined by ABR), were performed. Thirty-two percent of cases had at least one kind of ophthalmic disturbances. Refractive errors were the most common abnormalities (28%), including astigmatism (12%), myopia and astigmatism (8%), and hyperopia (8%). Three (6%) cases had ocular motility disturbance including one case of esotropia, one case of exophoria and one case of exotropia. Twenty-four percent of cases had retinal abnormalities, including suspected Rubella retinopathy (6%), pigmentary changes suspect to retinitis pigmentosa (4%), optic nerve hypoplasia (4%), and finally poor fovea reflex (10%).

Eye problems in children with hearing impairment

“…A study by Bakhshaee et al 6 also showed that refractive errors were the most common ocular problems in children with sensorineural hearing loss. Another study on Iranian children also reported that about 40% of the deaf students suffered from refractive errors.…”

“…4 , 7 , 9 , 10 Nevertheless, the condition of refractive errors in this population compared to the normal population cannot be judged because the majority of studies were descriptive and did not have a control group. 6 , 11 Previous studies confirm that refractive errors are the most prevalent visual disorder in not only deaf children but also the older deaf population. 6 , 11…”

“… 6 , 11 Previous studies confirm that refractive errors are the most prevalent visual disorder in not only deaf children but also the older deaf population. 6 , 11…”

“…4 , 5 Several studies reported that some visual disorders are more prevalent in the deaf population, which has been reported up to 60%. 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 Refractive errors, stereopsis problems, amblyopia, strabismus, and reduced vision are among the most important visual disorders in the deaf. Some of these studies have shown that refractive errors are more prevalent in deaf subjects compared to other visual disorders.…”

“…Few studies have evaluated visual disorders in deaf students in Iran so far. 6 , 11 Thus, we conducted a study to compare selected visual disorders including refractive error, strabismus, and amblyopia in deaf and normal students.…”